Life Can Cho be Tough
by BFangz
Summary: Even Cho has problems. Love and life are never simple. Take a vacation and get it all straight, right? That's what Cho thought. If the rest of his vacation is like the first day, he'll be glad to get back to the peaceful bullpen.
1. Nothing Like a Vacation

**Life Can Cho be Tough**  
(_Nothing Like a Vacation_)

Cho looked at his stop watch. Seven minutes exactly. He grinned, put his head down and increased his pace. Six minutes later he jogged slowly to a stop. Two miles in thirteen minutes. He was breathing hard, but he was satisfied with his effort. He'd taken five days of vacation starting with a long weekend, giving him ten full days off. Sitting behind a desk, sucking coffee and doughnuts, with the occasional pizza, was not balanced by chasing down the occasional runner. His morning workout routine helped, but was not doing what he wanted it to do.

He had ten days to get back on track and he intended to do so. The iron will that had taken him from ghetto gang life and kept him alive and honored in combat would be relentlessly brought to bear on getting back into peak physical condition. These ten days were just the beginning. Cho was going to reclaim his body.

The ringing of his phone interrupted his musings. His jaw set and he muttered half aloud, "If that's Lisbon....." but it wasn't Lisbon. The caller ID showed "Sunny". He grimaced and answered, "Yea?"

He listened and finally responded. "How do you think I am? You go to New York, and I never hear from you, you won't answer my calls or texts. You just drop off the face of the earth to me. I'm just fantastically great and how are you?"

"I see. I'm not being hostile. You haven't seen hostile, yet, and I agree with you. You did make a mistake. What makes you think I want to talk about it? Your silence for the past two months has said more than enough."

He listened, his face hard, but softening. "OK, OK. Stop with the crying. I can't stand that and you know it. When and where?" He listened. "Actually, I think a public place would be more appropriate." He sighed. "Oh, whatever! Tonight at seven, then." He flipped the phone shut and stared at it like it was a venomous snake.

"Bitch," he muttered. He slid the phone back into its holster and proceeded to work through another thirty minutes of interval sprints. An hour after the beginning of his workout, he was lying on the grass, in the warm sun, relaxing. Sunny's call had receded from his mind, the physical exertion demanding his full attention. He was peacefully drifting in a state of endorphin induce euphoria, enjoying the sensations of a reasonably well tuned body getting some much needed exercise.

The park he was in, did not have the best reputation. It wasn't the worst, but it was secluded and periodically became a mecca for drug deals and the occasional gang hang out. Equally periodically, the police would go on a "clean up the park" crusade and all would return to a peaceful normalcy. Sadly, for the approaching group, this was not one of those normal times.

Cho's peaceful reverie was disturbed by the raucous epithet, "Hey, Chink! What are you doing in our park?"

Cho's eyes instantly opened and he kipped to a standing position, mentally and physically switching to combat mode. He saw four late teen or early twenties men standing in a semi-circle facing him. "They don't even know how to deploy," he thought. "Right now, it's what I'm not doing that's important," he responded. "And if you want me to keep not doing it, you'll just walk away." He mockingly bowed, Japanese fashion and offered a death's head grin. "Consider that your only warning."

"And just what is it you're not doing that's so important?" came the response from the lead man, flipping a fixed blade knife.

Cho dropped, rolled forward, executed a leg sweep that broke the knee of the lead man with the knife. He used the momentum of his leg sweep to stand and execute a spinning kick to the short ribs of one of the other men. The obvious crack of a shattered rib indicated the success of that kick. Turning to take out the remaining two, all he saw was them running away. He grinned and bent over the Mr. Knife with the broken leg. "What I wasn't doing was hurting you, ass-hole!" A weak moan was the only response.

A quick call to Jane, asking him to request an EMT unit to the park, allowed him to be long gone by the time the got there. Jane was going to have fun explaining how he "knew" of the damaged bodies in the park. Being psychic has it perks. Especially if you don't reveal your sources.

* * * * * *

The headline read: **Ninja Park Attack.** The article described how two innocent citizens had been walking through the park, when there were attacked by several Ninjas that set upon them, finally overpowered them after a valiant fight, and took all of their valuables. The article called for a renewed crime prevention effort in the park, and the mayor agreed and claimed that it would begin tomorrow.

Cho smiled and flipped the knife he'd "liberated" from Mr. Knife. "I wouldn't say that this is all of your valuables. Then he thought of the rocks of crack he'd flushed away and grinned. "But I bet I put a crimp in your style. I hope that shit was fronted and you can't pay. That would get your attention." He gave a very un-Cho-like snicker. "Or the attention of someone! Sure hope he's understanding about how those bad old ninjas ripped him off."

Glancing at his watch, Cho felt his stomach flip. _Well, won't be long now. I wonder what she wants. Doesn't make sense. After dumping me, like that, there has to be more to it than her "everlasting" love for me. He looked at the door, dreading the knock he knew would come._

oOOOo

**Comments? Suggestions?  
Nothing wrong with a little input...**


	2. The Sun Doesn't Shine

**Caution: References to drug usage, addiction and sexual references.  
Classify T or M, I don't know.**

**Life Can Cho be Tough**  
(_The Sun Doesn't Shine_)

At exactly seven o'clock, there was a light tapping on Cho's door. He slowly walked over and opened the door. Sunny was as cute and attractive to him as he remembered, but unlike his memories, her face was puffy and red and it was obvious she'd been crying. Cho was at an absolute loss for words. He suddenly realized that he really cared that she was suffering.

She sniffed and dabbed at her nose and eyes with a tissue. Putting the tissue in her pocket, she wrapped her arms around his neck and started bawling. He stood, frozen, awkwardly patting her on the back, trying to make out what she was saying.

"I [sniff] have ruined everything," she sobbed. "I can't take it. I don't know what to do. You're going to think that all I want is to use you and you'll think that I don't care or need you, and how can I blame you, even thought that's not the way it is. If you'd treated me the way I've treated you, I'd never want to see or talk to you again, so I guess I'm lucky that you let me come tonight, even if it is to tell me that you hate me and never want to see me ever again." She paused and sobbed some more.

"Please," she said, "even if you don't care, help me and my brother. I'm older, I told him not to, and then he did, and I thought it was just normal. Everyone seemed to be doing it, but he really messed up, and I was in New York and when I realized that I wasn't able to really choose anymore and that I was doing things that aren't me just to get by. Cho," she pushed him back to arms length, "you read about it, you see it on TV, but it's not real and it can't happen to you, but then it is real and it is happening to you and it's harder and more complicated that you ever see on TV, and then my brother called and told me they were going to kill him. I flew back today and called you. I can't tell my parents. They wouldn't have a clue what to do. I'm in trouble and I need help." She held out her hand and it was shaking. She sniffed and blew her nose again.

Cho started at her. What he saw shocked him in may ways. He saw a scared little girl that was sick and in trouble. He felt almost as sick as she looked. Not physically, but for her, for what he knew she was going to go through. He could almost feel the ache that was starting in her body. "Sunny," he said, "come in. We do need to talk."

She sniffed and wiped her nose again. "Thank you, Cho. You're a good guy."

Cho brought her in and told her to sit. He made some tea, which he loaded with sugar and told her to drink. "Wash this down," he told her, giving her a small white pill.

She didn't even ask what it was. She swallowed it like a hungry python and washed it down with far too sweet and too hot tea, but allowed a sigh of relief to escape her when she did. "Now, you stay here," he told her. "I'll be back within a half hour or so. Sit. Stay. Got it?"

She nodded meekly. This was not the fiery, independent Sunny that Cho remembered. He quickly left, closing the door behind him, closing the silent dejected Sunny off from the suddenly hostile world she inhabited.

He went to a bar he knew and had a low conversation with the bouncer. Anyone watching would have seen two friends having a pleasant conversation. They shook hands, and Cho went to the bar and ordered a shot of dark rum, coke on the side. As he was finishing the last of the coke, the bouncer called to him and he went to the door, had a whispered conversation with the bouncer. "I'll owe you one," he said as they shook hands and left. It was that easy, he marveled. The bouncer knew he was CBI and he still did it. "Must be my honest face," he thought. "What else could it be?"

Returning to his apartment, he found Sunny more or less where he left her, except she was curled up on the floor, next to a small trash can. From the odor, he knew that she'd vomited. He got a damp towel from the bathroom and cleaned her face, flushed the contents of the trash can and got her to the bed, along with the cleaned trash can next to her.

"I'm sick, Cho. What am I going to do? I don't know anyone here. How can I get by?" Sunny looked terrified.

"What do you want to do," Cho asked. "Do you want to cop or do you want to get clean?"

Sunny hesitated. "I don't want to be sick. I don't want to hurt. I want to be OK, and I want my brother to be OK." She'd started sweating again and her stomach was cramping up. "Cho, what am I going to do? I can't stand this. I feel like my arms are going to break and I can't straighten up."

Cho reached into his pocket and pulled out a small clear envelope, containing a white powder. "I thought you might need this, but you're going to taper off, OK?"

Sunny's eyes got big and Cho knew she want to grab it out of his hand, but she controlled herself. "OK, you'll help?"

"Yes, Sunny. I'll help. A few days and you won't be sick, but you won't be cured. A taste, now, to get you through your hebbie jebbies, and we'll take it one step at a time."

"Cho, I don't have any works. Did you get works," Sunny asked.

Cho shook his head. "That I won't allow in my house. You'll have to make do without works."

"How do I do that," she asked, her confusion obvious.

"You don't know?" Cho was surprised, but he guessed it was possible she'd never had to "make do." He tapped her pubic bone. "Let's just say that you have a new lover," he said dryly.

"Oh, I never...." Still, she took the envelope and opened it, preparing for what she was going to do. She choked back a sob. "You might as well be here. I can't sink much lower."

oOOOo


	3. Bad Morning

**Life Can Cho be Tough**  
(_Bad Morning_)

Cho wondered if Sunny would still be there when he returned. He quickly put in a "to go" breakfast order and returned to the apartment. Quietly opening the door, he entered as silently as he could. The more she could sleep, the easier it would be on her. She was curled into a fetal ball, her long hair looking like a rats nest and her face drawn and ashen. He ate and stared at her, marveling at the 'fall' she'd taken. Cho had hated drugs since he'd first been exposed as a gang banger. He saw good friends and brothers get stupid, wreck their bodies and die.

Sunny stirred and struggled to a half sitting position on the pillow. She rapidly blinked, as if the light were too bright. "Where am I," she croaked.

"You're in Sacramento, Sunny," Cho responded.

"Sacramento," she wheezed. "I used to live there. How..." She paused. "Oh, I remember, now." She closed her eyes and lay back. "Guess I don't look all that good."

Cho smiled, hoping that was an attempt at humor. "Honestly, you look like crap."

Her smile was weak, but it was a smile. "You always did know how to cheer me up." She opened both eyes. "Will it start again?"

Cho sighed. "Probably, but we'll get you through it." He held out a Styrofoam container. "Here, orange juice. It'll get your sugar levels up and get some vitamin "C" into you. That'll help."

She groaned, but reached for the OJ. She made a face at the first sip, but then chugged it greedily. "That was almost good," she said a little brighter.

"Think you can manage some food?" If you weigh 90 pounds, I'd be surprised."

Sunny made a half gagging sound. "Food? Mm... I'm not sure about that. What are you suggesting."

"I have one of these egg things on a bagel with cheese and Canadian bacon. You can pick at it and eat what you can stomach. Egg, I understand, goes down pretty easy."

She held out her hand and made a face when she smelled it. "I really should try to eat," she said staring at the offending object. "I know I need it." She started picking at it and it disappeared in a short time. She groaned. "I hope that was a good idea! I'm thinking I might regret it."

"Even if you do, your body will thank you. Now, there's one more thing you need to do and we can get this day started."

Sunny looked at his quizzically.

"You need a shower! Yes, you _really_ need a shower. Shower, wash your hair, and you will have made some progress in joining the human race, again." Cho smiled trying to take the sting out of his words.

Sunny nodded, looking at her knees. "I guess you're right. How bad is it? I can't smell me."

Cho chuckled. "Don't ask. Just shower. Leave your clothes here. I'll put them in a plastic bag and get them washed. Here," he said, throwing her an extra large T-shirt. You can wear this."

In Sunny's malnourished state, she was very pale. For the first time, Cho saw and Asian blush. "Ok," she said, sounding like a little girl.

Steam quickly filled the small apartment, the aroma of soap and shampoo being very pleasant and domestic. Cho drifted, allowing the tension caused by the trauma of last night to easy from his body.

"Cho," she called from the shower. "There's still that spot that I can't reach. Would you help, please?" Then she added, almost sounding scared. "You don't have to if you'd rather not...."

The first time she'd said that came flooding into his memory. How vibrant and vital she was that day, so filled with life and fun. He stood and walked into the lavatory. She had opened the shower curtain and was back towards him, her spine, ribs and hip bones protruding, soap running down her back. He felt like he'd been kicked in the groin. She looked emaciated and sick, but when she turned, handed him the towel, her smile was 100% Sunny. He wondered if the moisture running down his cheek was condensation from the shower, but he knew better, really.

He took the towel and wiped her back, wrapped her in it, turned her around and easily picked her up and carried her back to the bed, where he gently put her down. He took the towel and hung it over a chair to dry. Turning he examined her. He sat on the bed, next to her, and held her arm so he could see it. It was not as bad as some he'd seen. There no obvious infections or abscesses, but it was the arm of a junkie. There was no doubt about that. "Sunny," he whispered, holding her hand to his cheek.

She sat up and hugged him. "You're a good guy, Cho. I am so sorry." She sniffed, then shivered. "Oh, I think it's starting again, could you cover me up please?"

He reached under the bed and pulled out a military, wool blanket. He wrapped her in the sheet and then in the wool blanket. He lay down next to her as she shivered and cramped up. "Could I have a little," she asked.

Cho looked at her and said nothing. She smiled weakly. "I guess not," she said.

"You want to get clean?"

"You know I do! Of course I do."

"Sunny, you are a strong person. Now, find that strength and beat this. You got you through the first one with a little help, now you can do it on your own, OK?"

"OK," she grunted as abdominal cramps forced her knees to her chest. "I can do it," she said through gritted teeth, sweat pouring down her face. "I can do it."

oOOOo


	4. Better Day

**Life Can Cho be Tough  
**(_Better Day_)

Sunny sipped her orange juice and shivered. Her clothing was clean and almost still warm from the dryer. Kimball's apartment building did have a functional laundry room, which he'd put to good use. Her hair was neatly combed and some color had returned to her complexion. She looked like she'd been ill, which was a fact. Fortunately, the nature of her illness was not plainly visible.

She took a sip of the orange juice and shivered. "Could I have some hot coffee, please? I don't think I'll ever feel warm again.

Cho nodded. Two scrambled, crisp bacon, and two coffees," he told a passing waitress, who smiled and nodded in return. Kimball was a regular and he tipped reasonably well. He'd been taught, that if you take care of others, they might take care of you, and the quick coffee seemed to indicate that was true.

Sunny greedily sipped the hot, sweet liquid, set it down and stared at Cho. "Kimball, I need... my brother needs... we need your help. I'm so grateful for what you are trying to do for me, but it was my brother that brought me back to Sacramento."

Cho's face returned to it's impassive aspect. He said nothing, allowing her to continue.

"He called me and told me that he'd crossed the Bloods and they were going to kill him." She paused to see if Kimball would respond. He didn't. "I told him to hide at Gram's, she doesn't live in Sacramento, but I'm afraid they are still looking for him and if he's at Gram's I'm terrified she's in danger, too."

Finally Kimball nodded. "She is."

Sunny reached out and covered his hand with hers. "Please help, me."

They were interrupted by the delivery of her eggs and bacon. "Right now, I want to see you getting some protein in your body. If you aren't healthy, you can't help anyone and I wouldn't have a reason to." Cho knew that wasn't fair, but he was willing to use whatever it took to get Sunny clean.

She nodded and started eating, taking his statement as assent to her request.

* * * * * * *

Cho borrowed Grace's car so that he could take Sunny to the airport to get her bag. She no longer had an apartment in Sacramento, and considering her condition, didn't want to stay with her parents. She'd not thought her panicked return to California through, at all! If Cho hadn't been available, she'd probably have spent the night on the street trying to cop, like so many other junkies. If they are cute or good looking enough, they usually manage to score. Sunny may have managed.

On the way to and from the airport, Sunny told Cho all that her brother, Bryce, confided to her. It sounded to Cho as if he was trying to broker a drug deal, and the Bloods, who were going to deliver the goods, got ripped off. Bryce, being the middle man, was considered to be just as much to blame as anyone. So far, those involved, all except Bryce were dead. The Bloods had been quick and final in exacting revenge and satisfying "honor." Sunny had given him the best advice possible: Get out of Sacramento and lay very, very low.

All of the law enforcement in California had not made a significant dent in the Bloods activity. They had good lawyers and the ACLU on their side. Law enforcement, playing by the rules, couldn't really touch them. Cho knew there was no way he could stop them from doing anything they set their minds to. Except from putting Bryce in a relocation plan, he could think of no way to keep him alive. This sounded like a problem that Jane would be good at handling. This was clearly a problem where they needed to be convinced to change their minds about killing Brice, and Jane was the most convincing person that Cho knew of. Cho smiled remembering the times he saved Jane's skin. He was willing to bet that Jane would love the challenge.

Returning to his apartment, Sunny and her luggage in tow, was almost a relief. Cho hated driving and hated being responsible for someone's vehicle. He dropped Grace's car at the CBI parking lot. He and Sunny walked back to his digs. He easily carried her take on luggage, the only kind she had, as she struggled to keep up with his pace. She finally had to stop, and gasping for breath, calling for him to wait. He was instantly sorry for not being considerate of her, but the Sunny he remembered could out run him and still look fresh. He stood by her side, arm around her slight shoulders, as she caught her breath.

"Let's go," she finally gasped. "I really need some orange juice. I'm not feeling well, at all." She was pale and perspiring. She looked like she was about to lose it.

Cho nodded. "We're almost there, now, Sunny. You can make it. Slow and easy, I'm sorry. I didn't realize how fast I was walking."

Sunny's smile was weak but sincere. "I know. I'm not the Sunny you remember, am I?" She looked like she was about to cry, now.

Cho tried to think of what to say. He, by nature, was brutally honest, but his emotions toward Sunny were complex, and he wasn't sure how to express them. "Sunny," he began, "moment to moment we are different people. I am not the Cho you knew yesterday. I am similar, but I am different. We all change, but within us there is a core of us. That never really changes. Yes, you are the Sunny I remember." He turned to face her and stared into her eyes.

Sunny started to say something, but then, just grabbed him and kissed him. His first instinct was to resist, but skinny, weak, sick and sweating, she was the Sunny he really did remember and mourned over, and now she was in his arms.

oOOOo


	5. Jane Gets Involved

**Life Can Cho be Tough**  
(Jane Gets Involved)

Sunny's eyes were wide a she squirmed around to get into a more comfortable position on the bed. A second volley of tapping on the door ensued. Cho stood. "That'll be Jane. I called him for help on this. He's a good guy."

Cho opened the door and stood aside to allow Jane to enter. He took one step in, and still blocking the door, almost as if he would bolt, carefully examined the room, reserving his examination of Sunny for last.

Sunny looked as if she wanted to crawl under the covers and hide. Jane walked over to her, smiled and introduced himself. "Hello, I'm Patrick Jane. Please, call me Patrick. You must be Sunny." He sat next to her and put his hand on her forehead. Sunny looked like a deer in the headlight of a speeding 18 wheeler.

"It's OK, Sunny. Jane really is a good guy. He's just weird," Cho said.

"Mr. Jane," Sunny started.

"Patrick," Jane corrected her. "Pretty young ladies are required to call me Patrick. Now, Cho, over there, he has to call me Jane. Not you." He smiled his million dollar Jane smile. "And now, I know you really feel bad, so I brought you something. Here," he said holding out an undetermined orange tablet. "Put it under your tongue and let it dissolve."

Sunny looked at Cho, who nodded. "You can trust him." Sunny smiled and hesitantly took the capsule and put it in her mouth. "You going to tell us what it is?" Cho asked.

"Well, if you want to know, of course," Jane replied.

Sunny and Cho stared at him, and finally, in unison asked, "What was it?"

"Oh, you want to know." He smiled.

Again together. "Yes, we want to know!"

"It's suboxone. Good stuff."

Sunny looked clueless, but Cho knew that it was state of the art opioid addiction treatment, that was regulated as a narcotic by the FDA, though it had been in use for years in Europe. It was not something you just had lying around in your pocket.

"Where did you get that," Cho asked in amazement. "And how did you know?"

Jane smiled. "Do I look like the type of guy that would kiss and tell?" He smiled. "Please!"

Cho looked as Sunny and shrugged, as if to say that's how Jane is.

"That's amazing," Sunny said. "I think I feel better already. I can actually think of something other than how much I hurt and need that stuff. Thank you," she hesitated. "Patrick. Thank you."

"Now, I understand you could use my help. Tell everything you know and let's see what I can do for you.

* * * * * * *

"You're crazy, Jane. You know that. You're crazy!" Cho did not appear happy as he gripped the dashboard of Jane's suicide vehicle, as he called it. "You really want to walk into Bloods hang out, go up and ask Monk to lay off Brice?"

"Not exactly!" Jane replied. "I might have to be a bit more subtle and flexible than that, but that is the general idea."

The biker bar was outside of the city limits, remote enough to be almost private, but public enough to be accessible. As they pulled up, Cho was thinking of a place he'd less rather be. "You just get me in to where I can talk to Monk. I'll do the rest," Patrick said.

"Great," Cho muttered. "Now I'm a body guard for the suicidal."

Inside was as dark, smokey, and dank as it appeared to be from the outside. As the two neatly attired CBI agents entered the door, all eyes turned to focus on them. A very large man, wearing bikers colors, chains, studs and various sharp things approached them, blocking their way. "I think you babies are lost," he said mildly. Raucous laughter, hoots, and the stamping of feet greeted his laconic comment.

"Oh, we're not lost," Jane said, smiling. "We have an appointment to speak with Mr. Monk."

More laughter greeted his comment. The large man facing them grinned and bent to get eye to eye with Jane. "And who should I tell Mr. Monk..." more laughter, "is here to speak wid him?"

Cho flipped open his coat, reveling his badge, his 9 mm Glock and a sawed off 12 gauge he had slung beneath his arm. "That'll be Agent Jane and Agent Cho."

"Please," Patrick said, holding one hand up in a peaceful gesture. "There is no need for unpleasantness. We simply want to have a short discussion with Mr. Monk about an item that could mutually benefit us all. I'm Patrick and this is Kimball. We should all be on a first name basis, here. We"re all friends." More laughter greeted this statement, but Patrick seemed totally unfazed.

"Hey, Brute, send these two dipshits back here. I want to see what has invaded our happy home," a voice called from the even darker rear of the bar.

"This way, Gentle Men," Brute said very distinctly pronouncing the word 'gentlemen'.

As they approached, Monk was instantly identifiable, even to an untrained eye. Alpha male would be an understatement. "Ah, Mr. Monk, I presume," Patrick chirped, holding out his hand. "I'm Patrick Jane, and this is my good friend Kimball Cho. I'm not really a CBI agent, though I do solve cases for them, sometimes. I'm a consultant, and I'd like to think of myself as a problem solver. It's come to my attention that you have a problem, and I'd like the opportunity to solve it for you."

Much to Cho's amazement, Monk actually shook Jane's hand and invited them both to sit and join him for a drink. Monk looked both of them over. "Do you actually think you're going to get out of here alive?"

"Why of course we do, Mr Monk. You are a reasonable man, running a multimillion dollar enterprise, and I have a product to offer you. Albeit, unconventional, but a product that you can use." Patrick smiled.

"Keep talking," Monk said. "As long as I'm listening, you're not dying."

"Does the name Taco Lee mean anything to you?"

The crunching of the beer can into a compact cylinder indicated that it did. "Do you know where that scumbag is?" Monk asked, gritting his teeth.

"Not exactly," Patrick responded, but I have a proposition for you.

oOOOo


	6. At Home with the Bloods

Previously:

"Does the name Taco Lee mean anything to you?"

The crunching of the beer can into a compact cylinder indicated that it did. "Do you know where that scumbag is?" Monk asked, gritting his teeth.

"Not exactly," Patrick responded, but I have a proposition for you.

* * *

**Life Can Cho be Tough**  
(At Home with the Bloods)

Monk grunted and caught the beer someone threw to him. Jane was expecting him to puncture the can with his teeth, but he simply popped the top like anyone else would and took a long pull. He peered at Jane. "I'm listening."

"Let me see if I have this straight," Jane said. "Taco Lee brokered a deal between you and an agent you later discovered to be a Crip. This deal came out with you bring ripped off for the money and losing the product. Since that time, you've been stalled with the Crips because a war over something like this doesn't make sense, but you've been dissed and honor needs to be served. Wasting Lee and the Crip serves honor and getting the money back can't hurt. How am I doing, so far?"

"So far you're hitting home runs," Monk grunted. "Keep talking."

"Cho and I have a mutual friend that would really like to see Lee stay alive. If I could arrange it so that the Crip who burned you got taken out, and you got your money back, if Lee never entered Sacramento again, could you find it in your very warm and decent heart, and as consideration to me, your humble servant, to let him live?"

Monk grunted. "And I get the money back?"

Jane nodded. "Yep."

"And the Crip goes down?"

"You got it," Jane agreed.

Monk nodded. "You take down Cheeks and get me my money back and you gotta deal. I don't see him, I don't kill him, but he pokes around my turf and I'll waste his skinny ass. Sound like a deal to you?"

Jane smiled and nodded. "Sounds like a deal to me." He stood and held his hand out. "It's been a real pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Monk."

Monk smiled and took his hand, being careful to not hurt him. "You," he said looking at Cho, "You don't seem all that worried and I know you know the score. How'd you plan on getting out of here alive if things went wrong for you?"

Cho smiled and opened his coat. Under his left arm was an M61 grenade. Monks eyes widened. "You're crazy man! That grenade's got no pin in it."

"I know," Cho answered. "The only thing holding it secure is my arm. I relax my arm, say, as if I'm unconscious or dead, the spoon pops and we all go boom."

* * * * * * *

Riding back to Sacramento, Jane was driving very carefully and slowly. Finally he spoke. "That grenade isn't live is it?"

Cho nodded. "It's live."

Jane glanced over at him. "You _have_ replaced the pin, haven't you?"

There was just a flicker of a smile when Cho said, "I guess I should do that, shouldn't I?"

* * * * * * *

Jane returned to CBI headquarters to use the computers to track down "Cheeks" and to determine if there were outstanding warrants that they could use to roust him. He dropped Cho at his apartment and let him have the bottle of Suboxone. One pill does not effect a cure. Only will effects a cure, but it does help with the physical symptoms. He hoped it would be enough. He'd gotten a mixed read on Sunny, but anyone in the midst of withdrawal symptoms would be difficult to really read. He considered it significant that Sunny had triggered a sympathetic response in Cho. Cho was intelligent and pragmatic. As far a Jane was concerned, having Cho on your side said a lot about you.

Back at CBI headquarters, it didn't not take long to track down Cheeks and to discover that there were enough outstanding warrants to detain him for the next few weeks. "Gotta wonder why this guy is walking around free," Jane mused. Smiling he copied down the information he needed to get a warrant. Arranging it so Lisbon wouldn't find out wasn't hard. No need to complicate matters, he figured. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt him or Cho.

* * * * * * *

"Well, don't you look..... rested?" Jane commented to Cho on the way to the car. "Sunny's doing better, I gather."

"Yes. Thank you for the Suboxone." He paused. "I guess you owe me one less, now."

Jane grinned. "Wait till this evening. I'm gonna be a free man!"

Cho lifted an eyebrow, but said nothing.

As Jane had hoped, Cheeks was not at home at one PM. Since they had a warrant, they felt free to enter and free to search for contraband and illegal proceeds. Drugs and drug money actually. Jane and Cho methodically searched Cheeks not very neat or clean apartment. "He has enough crap in here to run a retail operation," Jane commented.

"He is," Cho commented.

They were organizing their 'finds' when Jane exclaimed "Oh, ho! Jack pot!" He held up a brief case full of money and a brown paper wrapped package of 'product'. He put it on the bed, slightly apart from the other items they'd found. Sounds of heavy foot steps and the scratching of key in the lock, that Jane had carefully relocked, announced the return of the apartment resident.

"Freeze!" Cho and Jane commanded together as he entered. Cheeks may have had a hearing problem or he may have considered himself a quick draw artist. It's true that an unarmed Jane was not a very impressive deterrent, and he may not have seen Cho, but his attempted draw was aborted by Cho's single bullet to his head.

As Cho hung up the phone from calling for the meat wagon, Jane wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, which always seemed available to him. "You have got to stop with those head shots, Cho. Do you realize how easy it is to miss? If you'd missed, he could have **shot** me."

"Didn't miss," Cho replied as the sound of sirens wound down at the apartment entrance. "But you owe me one more."

oOOOo


	7. Home not so Free

**Life Can Cho be Tough**  
(Home not so Free)

Jane stopped his car a safe distance from the row of motorcycles. He wasn't sure if he was more nervous this time than the last, and he wasn't sure who he was more afraid of, the Bloods in general, Monk or Cho. This time, their arrival did not go unnoticed. A large man that Jane remembered as Brute came over and peered down at them, his scowl replaced almost by a friendly smile. "You wait here," he growled. "Monk be on his way back, now."

"Oh, great," Jane muttered, as Brute left. "Why do I feel like a sitting target?"

"Because you are," Cho responded, deadpan. Jane did not look happy.

The snarling roar of a straight pipe hog announced the arrival of Monk. He pulled up, put down the kick stand and stared at Jane's car like it was a blot on the landscape. Killing the engine, he walked over to Jane and peered in. He grunted. "Rumor has it that you've been a busy guy." He looked at Cho. "That would be you that actually did the shooting." Cho just stared at him. Monk smiled. "Yep, that would be you. You have that look. Bet you didn't even blink, did you?"

"No," Cho replied.

Monk roared laughing. "I didn't think so." He turned his attention back to Jane. "So, you have anything for me?"

Jane took a deep breath and smiled. So far, so good. "As a matter of fact, I do," he said, pointing to the back seat where the brief case and package lie.

Monk looked and his eyes widened. He reached through the open window and checked the contents of the brief case and hefted that package. "All for me," he grinned.

"For a price," Jane said.

"Price?" Monk sounded threatening.

"Lee's off your hit list, OK?"

Monk nodded. "He stays out of Sacramento, no problem. I got what's mine and Cheeks is dead. It's done." He looked at Cho. "What you got for backup this time?"

Cho stared back at him. "You don't want to know."

Monk pointed to the a bag on back seat. "It's in there, isn't it." Cho remained dead pan. "OK, OK, I didn't really expect you to tell me. Nice doing business with you folks, now get the hell outta my house!"

"Yes, Sir," Jane replied, losing no time in leaving.

On the way back, Jane looked over his shoulder to the back seat. "Cho?"

"Yea?"

"What's in the bag? Do you need to disarm it?"

"The bag? I brought doughnuts and coffee in case we had to wait."

* * * * * * *

Lying next to a naked Sunny was nice. He propped himself up on one elbow and looked at her. Her hair was neatly combed and she was clean and smelled of fresh soap. In the short time she'd been with Cho, she had gained at least five pounds. He'd loaded his refrigerator with fish, chicken, broccoli and various veggies and cheeses, making sure she had plenty of protein and fiber.

She smiled at his attention. "You know, I can't thank you enough. You've saved my brother's life, and I think that you've saved mine. There's no way you can thank someone for doing that."

He smiled. "I don't know about someone, but you can thank me."

Sunny grinned. "Be your slave for life?"

"No. Seriously. You thank my by being the wonderful Sunny I first met. Healthy, happy, full of life and health. Then if you want to hang around for awhile......"

"Deal," she said pulling him on top of her with surprising strength. "Now, what do I get if I stay?"

oOOOo


End file.
